ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – Two referendums are on the ballot to support St. Johns County schools as the area continues to see rapid growth.
READ | 2024 St. Johns County School Board Referenda
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If approved, the county would renew a half-cent sales tax that was first approved by voters in 2015 and increase property taxes to help pay teachers’ salaries.
The current sales tax referendum under the Capital Outlay budget is set to end in 2025. If the renewal is passed, the sales tax rate will remain at 6.5% for 10 additional years.
“If you looked at the past 10 years, we’ve built eight schools and we’ve expanded 11 more. And so that’s been really the way we function and the way we’ve operated in recent years because of the fast growth, and so, in response to that growth, we use those capital dollars to build schools and to keep our current facilities up to state of the art,” Superintendent Tim Forson said.
The district said the money supports school construction, security improvements, maintenance and technology advancements.
If residents vote to discontinue the sales tax, the district could lose $37 million in annual revenue.
A growing population means more students. The county plans to build seven new schools in the next five years to keep up with the demand.
Matt Brown, a St. Johns County school parent, said he’s strongly in favor of extending the sales tax.
“It raises an enormous amount of revenue that is extremely helpful in that this county has experienced just a massive amount of growth in the last 15 or 20 years. And I know resources are getting stretched thinner and thinner and thinner, and so every dollar helps,” Brown said.
RELATED: A breakdown of just how much taxpayer dollars are going toward St. Johns County schools
View the school district’s Referendum Information Guide below.
Voters will also decide if they want to raise property taxes to support an increase in teacher and staff salaries.
The one-mill rate increase would help with recruiting teachers, school safety, student welfare and enhanced programs, the district said.
One mill equals $1 per $1,000 of assessed value, less homestead. The district reported the average tax value in the county was $360,000, which equates to $1 a day per household. The additional millage would last for four years and begin July 1, 2025.
“Over 80% of those dollars will all be used directly into salaries and benefits of the employees. We know that our neighboring counties, Duval, Nassau, Clay, all have already approved a one mill, and so they already have that ability to increase the salaries of its employees,” Forson said.
Brown favors the property tax increase because he wants teachers to be paid better.
“When the education system is good, property values stay high. When the education system is good, crime rates stay lower. When the education system is good, when you’re building an educated populous ... rising tide lifts all boats economically. So, we got to do it,” Brown said.
What do you think about these two referendums that will be voted on in the November election?
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